Ordinary Day
by AngelFires
Summary: It started out just like any other ordinary day...but then she ran into him. (High School AU)
1. Rapunzel I

**Rapunzel I**

* * *

It had started out just like any other day, just an ordinary day.

Rapunzel woke up to the sound of her alarm clock at 7 a.m., like she did every morning. Light was just starting to stream in through the skylight just above her bed. Her room, which she personally called 'The Tower', was in the attic of their little house in the woods. The only reason they lived there was because it was cheap. Her mother said, she'd chosen it because it was secluded and gave them 'privacy and room to think and breath', but Rapunzel knew it was because of the money. If her mother would stop spending so much money on nice things like her clothes and makeup and overly priced organic food, they might have enough for a small apartment in town. But Rapunzel never complained. Her skin turned purple when she did.

Rapunzel pressed the snooze button quickly, not wanting to wake her mother, whose bedroom was a floor beneath hers. She blinked her eyes awake and looked up through the skylight. The sky was clear, but the edges of her window were decorated in frosty tendrils. It had snowed the night before and Rapunzel didn't want to know what the streets looked like. She had to bike the five miles to school, because they could only afford one car, which her mother always took to work. But biking was 'good exercise' as her mother put it so Rapunzel didn't complain, no matter the weather.

Rapunzel was lucky she even went to school. She'd been homeschooled until she was fourteen, if one could even call it that. In the beginning her mother had brought her with her to work, where she'd worked independently on the books her mother had been obliged to buy as a part of the homeschooling program. When she'd turned eight, her mother had started leaving her at home where she'd followed the same routine of reading over the books and completing the exercises to go with them. She'd enjoyed all the subjects except math and science, which had been a bit too technical for her to grasp on her own. But she'd loved English and History and especially Geography and spent hours on end pouring over the books. The walls in their home were filled of paintings and images she'd imagined in her head while reading. She'd painted landscapes and maps and scenes of war and love and disorder and peace.

And then came the moment, where her mother had decided to enroll her in high school in the middle of the school year, the reason being, she needed a diploma to ensure herself an actual future. It was a plausible reason and Rapunzel, at fifteen years old, had been ecstatic to go to public school and make friends so she hadn't questioned the sudden change in routine. She did now, however, but never out loud. She questioned a lot of her mother's rules. Like how she wasn't allowed to hang out with friends after school and needed to come straight home and do her homework and chores. It was these restraints that had prevented her from actually making close friends. Sure she had people at school to talk to during class and lunch, but her lack of a cell phone and lack of freedom refrained her from maintaining close friendships with her classmates. In the beginning they'd been interested in her—she'd been the new girl after all—, but her excuses of not being able to hang out had turned people off and then they stopped being interested. She'd become the loner art freak.

Even though she was practically friendless, Rapunzel tried her hardest to remain bright and bubbly and friendly to everyone she came into contact with. It was difficult at times. Mornings after fights with her mother or when the rainy weather froze her to the bone were particularly nasty, but she plastered the smile to her face and just tried to get by.

She looked over at the clock, and read 07:06 off the hands. She had 25 minutes before she had to leave for school. Maybe even 20, because of the weather. She sighed heavily and pushed back her blankets, shivering as the cold air hit her. The attic wasn't very isolated and in the winter she had to sleep with three thick blankets to keep the cold out. She got dressed quickly, pulling on warm tights underneath her worn skinny jeans and a long sleeved shirt under her light pink sweater. She braided her long blonde hair into a single braid and walked over to the glass cage in her room, where she kept her chameleon, Pascale. He was balancing on a wooden stick under the heat lamp, staring back at her, expecting food most likely.

"Good morning, Pascale," she cooed and picked up the container of worms next to the cage.

Pascale stuck out his tongue at her, which Rapunzel came to understand as him wanting something else other than worms.

"Sorry," she said and uncapped the container. "I'll bring up something sweet, when I get back from school."

His expression remained unimpressed. At least that's how she interpreted it.

"I promise," she assured him and dropped some worms into the cage.

Pascale squeaked, seemingly in appreciation, and began to dine on his breakfast.

Rapunzel grabbed her backpack, then climbed down the ladder into the upstairs of the house. It was definitely warmer down there and Rapunzel had to stop herself from glaring daggers at her mother's bedroom door.

After a few minutes in the bathroom and in the kitchen for a quick breakfast of dry, whole wheat toast, she left through the front door and locked it behind her. The world was covered in a blanket of snow. It wasn't terribly deep, but deep enough she'd have to walk her bike down to the main road, which would add another five minutes on her way to school.

She shrugged her shoulders up to her ears and tugged on her thick wool scarf and hat, which she'd knit herself. It was colder than she'd thought, but at least it wasn't snowing. She pulled her bike upright from its leaning position against the house and brushed off the snow, before trudging down the winding driveway to the main road. When she reached it, she started pedaling at a fast pace on the asphalt, the wind biting at her cheeks and whistling in her ears. She pumped her legs faster, trying to warm her body up in the frosty air.

She couldn't stop herself from admiring the winter wonderland around her. Left and right of the road, the woods were coated beautifully in snow and ice. Icicles hung from the branches and sparkled in the sunlight. She imagined painting the landscape somewhere at home, but where? Rapunzel's walls were drowning in colors, but she was certain there was still room somewhere. Maybe on the ceiling, or she could paint her dresser or even paint over some things that were fading away anyway.

She'd been so immersed in thought that she noticed too late that a white fluffy bunny had hopped onto the road. She shrieked and pulled violently on the brakes. The bike swerved on the icy road and slipped out from underneath her. Her body slammed onto the asphalt and she skidded a few painful feet, before coming to a stop.

Rapunzel groaned and pushed herself up, her subconscious telling her laying on the road wasn't a good idea. She crawled over to the shoulder and looked behind her. Her bike was lying in a heap, but the bunny was nowhere to be found. She sighed in relief. At least she hadn't hit the bunny.

A stinging sensation on her hands and knees brought her back to reality. She looked down and winced at her bloody palms. She cursed loudly, which was something Rapunzel never did, and stood up shakily. The fabric over her right knee of both jeans and tights was torn and the skin beneath scraped.

"You alright?"

Rapunzel spun around quickly. She hadn't heard a car pull up. A boy stood in front of her. A boy she recognized. A boy she went to school with. Jackson Overland.

She didn't think she'd spoken more than a few words with him since her freshman year and whatever it had been about was most likely school related and forgettable. They didn't have anything in common, so it wasn't a mystery as to why they remained strangers. He had a knack for disobeying school rules and getting into trouble. From the gossip Rapunzel picked up in the hallways and classrooms and bathrooms, he went by 'Jack' or 'Frost', the latter because of his pale hair, and he was fun and outgoing, but very private. Not many people knew about his personal life and those who did, didn't blab. There were some scribbles about him on the bathroom stalls, mostly about his (extremely) good looks and his now ex-girlfriend Elsa.

Rapunzel remembered her. She was a pretty thing with pale blonde hair, porcelain skin and blue eyes. She'd been a year above them and from what Rapunzel could tell, they'd broken up, because they hadn't wanted to do long distance after she left for college, not that it was any of her business.

But in other words, Jack was just a boy. Just an ordinary boy, whose life consisted of ordinary things, like sports and jokes and fun and friends and teen romance.

"You alright?" he asked again, coming closer to her.

Rapunzel's breath rushed out and she could feel her body shaking. "Y-yeah. I just slipped on some ice."

"You hurt?" he asked and looked her up and down. His eyes widened slightly. "You're bleeding."

Rapunzel looked down at her hands. "I'm okay. It'll wash off."

"Your knee looks pretty bad," he said, gesturing to it.

"It's fine. I just need to get to school. I can't be late," Rapunzel said quickly and walked, or limped rather, to her bike. Panic surged up in her chest. What would Mother say or _do_ if she found out Rapunzel had been late?

"I'm sure, they'll understand." Jack's voice was closer than she expected. "You're Rapunzel, right?"

She paused and turned around. "You know my name?"

Maybe it was a dumb question. She knew his after all. But she was a nobody, the loner art freak, who lived out in the woods with her mother. And he was a somebody. Everyone knew Jack.

He walked around her and picked up her bike. "Yeah. It's a hard name to forget." He grinned at her and she felt her cheeks heat up. She was glad they were probably already pink from the cold. "I'm Jack, by the way."

"I know," she said before she could stop herself. His eyebrows lifted slightly and she quickly added, "Everyone knows you."

"Ah, bad reputation, huh?" he replied.

"Only partly," she assured him.

His lips turned up in a smirk and he bent down to inspect her bike. His smile fell. "I don't think, you're gonna make it another 4 miles on this," he said, then looked up at her questionably. "Why are you biking in this weather anyway?"

"Bike or walk," she said simply.

His surprised expression remained as he studied her. Rapunzel had to fight off the urge to fidget under his blue gaze.

"You sure, it's broken?" she asked finally, tearing her eyes away from him, immediately wondering how much it would cost for repairs.

"Yeah. The chain ripped and your handlebars are bent. I can put it in the back of my truck and give you a ride to school if you still want to go."

Rapunzel looked over to the other side of the street, where a rusty, baby blue pickup truck was parked on the shoulder. What confused her, however, was that it was in fact on the other side of the street, facing _away_ from school.

"If I still want to go?" she repeated and looked back at him.

"I don't think anyone could blame you for ditching after all this," he said and nodded to her current situation of bloody palms and a broken bike.

"Is that what you're doing?" she asked. "Ditching?"

A boyish grin spread on his face. "Maybe."

She raised her eyebrows. " _Maybe?_ Where are you going?"

"Why? You wanna come?"

Rapunzel faltered. Was he being serious? "Okay."

 _Wait, what?_


	2. Rapunzel II

_"Where are you going?"_

 _"Why? You wanna come?"_

 _Rapunzel faltered. Was he being serious? "Okay."_

Wait, what?

* * *

 **Rapunzel II**

* * *

He seemed just as surprised as her what with the way his eyebrows shot up past his fringe. "Really?"

"Were you not being serious?"

"I was," he protested quickly. "I just didn't think you'd say 'yes'."

Rapunzel didn't know why she agreed. Maybe it was her soul longing for freedom. Maybe it was the rebellious part in her wanting to go against the rules—her mother's rules, school's rules. Maybe she just wanted to spend time with someone, _anyone,_ outside of the confines of school. Maybe she just didn't feel like writing a math test that she knew she was going to fail. Or maybe it was everything combined. A potent mix. Uncontrollable. Unpreventable.

"You can imitate your mom, right?"

They were sitting in Jack's truck cruising down Woodland Road towards town, the radio playing softly. Rapunzel had cleaned up her palms and knee with snow and tissues that she'd found in the truck's glove compartment.

"Sure," she replied. She'd actually become somewhat of an expert, considering she'd been doing it for years (alone in her room after arguments).

"Good," he said with a grin and took his cellphone out of his pocket. "Here. The school's number's saved on speed dial."

Rapunzel took the phone and just held it for a moment, loving the feel of the expensive object in her hand. She didn't have one of her own, because she couldn't afford one, however, her mother's excuse was that she didn't need one. Rapunzel's jaw clenched at the thought.

"Try not to sound nervous," Jack said. "I almost got busted once the first time I tried it."

She glanced at him from the corner of her eye, but his eyes were on the road. Her gaze fell back to the phone and she pressed the green phone icon, went to his speed dial contacts like he said, glanced over them and frowned when she couldn't find one labeled 'school' or something similar.

"Uh, which one?" She asked.

He glanced at her briefly, then down at the phone and back to the road. "Godmother. That's the school secretary."

"Why _Godmother_?"

He looked over at her again, his expression amusedly confused. "Everyone calls her that. _She_ even calls herself that."

"Oh," she nearly whispered. How did she not know this?

"She likes to act like she's the school shrink," Jack went on. "You know, like we can go to her with all our problems and with the wave of her magic wand everything will be fine. I swear, adults act like they've never been teenagers before."

Rapunzel wasn't sure if she should laugh.

"Oh," she mumbled again and pressed the contact. She held the phone up to her ear and tried to steady her heartbeat as the dial tone rung. She couldn't mess this up.

There was a click as the receiver was picked up. "Burgess High School. This is Ms. Fortuna. How can I help you?" A cheery voice asked.

"Good morning, Ms. Fortuna," Rapunzel greeted in her best imitation of her mother; high pitched and slightly nasally. She ignored Jack's snort of amusement at her impersonation. "This is Ms. Gothel. I'm calling Rapunzel in sick today."

"Oh, dear," Ms. Fortu— _Godmother_ cooed sympathetically. "This must be her first absent in four years."

"Mhm," Rapunzel replied. "She should be back by tomorrow."

"Alright, I'll note it down," Godmother said, voice never faltering in its bright tone. "You know there's been a cold going around. Mr. Overland called not ten minutes ago about Jackson. He's out sick as well."

Rapunzel glanced over at Jack. "Is he now? Poor boy."

Jack must have sensed they were talking about him, because he looked over at her, blue eyes twinkling mischievously.

"Well, give the dear my best," Godmother singsonged.

"I'll do that."

"Have a nice—"

Rapunzel hung up the phone and gasped. "Oh, my—I did it! I cant believe I did it!" She squealed, eyes gleaming, but her grin disappeared quickly. "I can't believe I did this…Mother would be so furious."

"Hey, what she doesn't know won't kill her."

"This is gonna kill her."

She could sense Jack looking at her with slight unease. "Okay, _kill_ is a bit—"

"I am a horrible daughter. I'm going back. I have to go back. You have to take me back. I can't do this."

"Are you serious right now?"

"No." A moment's pause, then, "I don't know."

"Well, look at it this way. You're already off the hook and school's about to start anyway, so you wouldn't even make it to first period on time."

Rapunzel glanced at the digital clock on the dash and sighed. "You're right. You're right."

This was bad. The whole thing was bad. She was going to get in so much trouble! She'd be grounded for months. Maybe Mother would even pull her out of school. Maybe she'd lock her in the Tower like she used to when Rapunzel misbehaved. She remembered the walls closing in, pressing closer and closer until she could hardly breathe.

"I can take you back home if you want."

"No!" Rapunzel exclaimed suddenly and she blushed at the incredulous look Jack gave her. "Sorry, but no. Don't take me back yet."

He pulled his gaze back to the road. "Okay," he drawled out slowly and she could sense him second-guessing himself if it was a good idea to invite her along.

"Sorry, I'm a bit jumpy," she said and exhaled deeply. "I've just never done anything like this before."

"Yeah, I figured. Don't worry. I'll keep the illegal stuff to a minimum."

She looked at him wide eyed.

"Kidding," he said quickly. "Jeez. What kind of reputation do I actually have at that school?"

Rapunzel laughed breathlessly and handed him his phone back. "The troublemaking kind."

He chuckled at that.

"So…" she hummed into the silence. "You ditch quite a bit."

He shrugged. "A fair amount I guess."

"And she believes you each time?"

His mouth curved into a crooked smile. "Well, flirting does help."

Rapunzel stared at him. "You _flirt_ with her?"

"Oh, don't give me that look," he said with a laugh. "She thinks it's my dad."

Rapunzel wasn't sure if that was worse. "What if he ever comes to the school?!"

"Don't worry. That won't ever happen."

"How can you be so sure?"

"'Cause he left us a long time ago."

Rapunzel froze, mouth parted, eyes looking anywhere but at him.

"It's fine. Seriously, don't worry about. It happened a long time ago."

"My dad left us too," she said, not really knowing why. Maybe she thought it would be reassuring in a way? Maybe it could be a thing to bond over? "I never met him. At least I don't remember ever meeting him."

"That sucks."

"Not really. I mean, I can't miss him, because I don't remember him. Not like you. I mean that must really suck for you, because…" She trailed off immediately after realizing what she'd said and clamped her mouth shut.

He looked at her sideways, but he wasn't frowning or glaring or gritting his teeth. He was smiling. Nearly smirking. "Like I said, it's fine. I'm used to it."

"Used to what? Him not being there or people being completely insensitive about it?" Rapunzel asked, rubbing her forehead, momentarily hiding her mortified expression from him.

"Both."

"Sorry."

"Are you going to be apologizing this entire time?"

She dropped her hand. "No. Sor—" She exhaled sharply in exasperation. "It's a habit."

He chuckled again and she was starting to ask herself why he found her so amusing.

She glanced out the window at the snow covered trees flying by. It wasn't much warmer in the truck than it was outside and she started rubbing her hands over her thighs to warm up her freezing limbs.

"There's a blanket down there you can use," Jack said and pointed a finger at the floorspace between them. "My heater's broken."

To her surprise Jack's truck was clean. A bit messy, but clean. She half-expected soda cans and empty food packages and crumbs to be scattered about, but instead there was a fat coloring book slid into the pocket on the door, a package of crayons in a cup holder, a grey stuffed bunny sitting on the dash on the passenger side, an ice scraper at her feet and a car magazine lying on the middle seat.

"You like coloring in your free time?" Rapunzel asked half-seriously and pulled the book from the door, after having covered herself with the red fleece blanket.

Jack snorted. "Yeah, it's one of my past times."

"I like painting," she said and flipped through the book. Some of the pictures were sloppily colored in, but most were blank.

"I was kidding," he said slowly, like he wasn't sure if she got the joke.

She refrained from rolling her eyes. "I wasn't."

He cleared his throat. "I've seen some your artwork at school. There was that exhibition that one time. You painted that picture with the lanterns," he said, surprising her. "It was really good."

"Thank you." Her voice sounded a bit too surprised by the compliment and she caught him glance at her again, however briefly.

She slid the coloring book back into the slot on the door, leaned forward and grabbed the bunny off the dash. It was soft and looked quite worn.

"That's not mine," Jack said quickly and when she looked over at him she could swear he was blushing lightly. "Belongs to this kid I babysit."

Rapunzel raised her eyebrows. "You babysit?"

He glanced over at her. "Don't look so surprised."

How could she not? From the gossip at school, she'd come to believe he was an irresponsible prankster, but now she was starting to realize that there was more to him than that. She couldn't believe that she'd actually believed the rumors. She'd heard plenty about herself that were completely false, like that she was a gypsy in practice or a part of some cult, because she lived out in the middle of nowhere.

"You just don't seem like the babysitting type," she admitted.

He looked at her quizzically. "Why not?"

'Too attractive' didn't seem like the right thing to say. Luckily she didn't have to answer, because his phone dinged.

He dug it out of his pocket but then quickly set it down when they approached an intersection just outside town. "Can you read that out for me?" He asked.

Rapunzel took the phone and the screen flashed as the message popped up again.

 _\- where you at frosty? -_

She relayed the message to him verbally. "From… _Robin Hood?_ " she added and her brow furrowed.

He laughed. "Yeah, I figured."

"Who's Robin Hood?"

"My friend Merida."

"Why do you call her Robin Hood?"

"Firstly, because it pisses her off," he said and took a left onto Main Street. "Secondly, she's into archery—don't ask me why, 'cause I don't know. Maybe she has some medieval fetish or something. And thirdly, her parents are pretty well off and she likes sharing the wealth."

"Hm," Rapunzel chuckled. "She calls you 'frosty'?"

"Yeah, she thinks she's hilarious."

"Well, so do you," Rapunzel countered, "…about yourself."

He nodded in agreement. "True. But the difference between me and her is that I actually _am_ hilarious."

Rapunzel couldn't help her smile. "So, where are we going?"

Traffic was slow and they crawled along the icy street like snails. The sidewalks were snow-covered, icicles hung off ledges and frost decorated windows in intricate swirls.

"You like hot chocolate?" Jacks asked and shifted gears as the traffic started to clear up again.

"Yes," Rapunzel confirmed with a wide smile.

"Hot chocolate it is then."

He pulled into a parking spot on the side of the road and they quickly made their way into a small café on the corner. After a small argument at the counter over who was paying, which Rapunzel quickly lost, they settled into two small armchairs by the window, a small, round table between them. Rapunzel snuggled deeper into her jacket and the chair, enjoying the warmth of the little café, and clutched her giant mug of cocoa with both hands. The hot drink was topped off with a swirl of whip cream, cocoa powder and red peppermint shavings.

"Thanks for this," she said and looked over at Jack. He had removed his winter coat to reveal a dark blue sweatshirt that made his azure eyes seem even brighter.

He gave her an easy smile. "No problem."

She smiled back and looked back down at her cocoa when she felt a blush start to creep onto her cheeks. She took a spoon and carved an alcove into the whip cream. The taste of sugar and peppermint and chocolate overtook her tastebuds and she couldn't remember the last time she'd had something so sweet. She loved it.

"Why did you ask me to come with you today?"

Jack didn't reply right away and just drummed his fingers against his leg as he took another sip of his cocoa. "Why _did_ you?"

Rapunzel leaned back in her seat and stirred her hot chocolate some more, eyes following the white and brown swirls as the whip cream slowly, slowly melted. "I don't know…I guess, I just…" She trailed off again and shrugged. "Every day is always the same. I just wanted to do something different."

A Christmas song jingled over the speaker system and Rapunzel had to stop herself from actually singing along.

"You still didn't answer my question," she realized.

Jack inhaled sharply through his nose. "Yeah, 'cause I don't really have an answer. I mean…why not ask you?"

"Is that why you decided to skip today? ' _Why not?_ '"

He shrugged. "More or less. It snowed. 'Thought it'd be a waste to spend today in a classroom."

Rapunzel looked back out the window. The window was frosted at the edges and she could see huge snow mounds piled up on the edge of the street and sidewalk. "So, what did you plan to do otherwise?"

He looked over and smiled. "Didn't plan anything. Thought I'd just see where the day takes me."

Rapunzel smiled into her mug and took another sip of cocoa. He was much different than she'd previously thought. He said and did ordinary things like any other ordinary boy and yet everyday he found just what he was looking for; adventure, laughter, fun, _freedom_. It was everything she longed for.

"So, you want to do something different," Jack said and she should have known by the smirk on his face that it'd be something far outside her comfort zone.


	3. Jack I

_"So, you want to do something different," Jack said and she should have known by the smirk on his face that it'd be something far outside her comfort zone._

* * *

 **Jack I**

* * *

"Isn't this like breaking and entering?"

That almost made him laugh. Jack pulled the key out of the ignition and twirled the key ring around his finger. "Well, no, because one, I have a key and two, it's _my_ house."

Rapunzel glanced out the window and shrunk down in her seat, arms folded over her chest. "But we're not supposed to be here right now."

Jack looked over at her and his brow wrinkled in light confusion. She was probably the strangest girl he'd ever met. Cute and friendly, but so undeniably naive and innocent with a total lack of knowledge on what most teenagers would consider normality. He paused. Maybe that was too harsh, but ditching school was something all students did at least once in their lives, but it seemed right now like she'd always thought it some unfathomable concept for herself.

The only thing he really knew about her was that she was into art and a total goody two shoes. The rest of his knowledge was based off rumors and he was trying not to project them onto her now. He'd seen her around school, noticed her mostly because she was pretty—like seriously gorgeous if he was being completely honest—, but she kept mostly to herself. They'd shared a few classes and spoken maybe twice, three times tops, about something or other.

To tell the truth, she made him kind of nervous. And he wasn't totally sure why. It wasn't, because she was pretty—well, not completely. He had experience talking with pretty girls. It was something else. Rapunzel was… _different,_ to put it in the most blatant, cliché terms possible. She was weird—in a good way, though. It was unnerving.

"Look, I said I'd show you something cool, but I need to get something first. Do you want to come with inside or do you want to stay here?"

He'd parked in the driveway of his house, a cute little two-story building of pale yellow vinyl siding, dark blue roofing, a starch white porch, white window frames and a solid oak front door. There was a lopsided snowman in the front yard, wearing a tiara and a pink scarf. He and Flee, his little sister, had built it last week and she'd surely be dragging him outside when she got home from school to build another one.

"No one's home?" Rapunzel asked and fidgeted with the cuffs on her jacket.

"No, no one's home."

She dragged her bottom lip between teeth and if it had been any other girl—except Merida obviously, though she'd positively never do something like that—Jack would be fairly certain that it was some kind of flirty little move, but with _this_ girl and the worried crease between her eyebrows and her overall fidgety behavior, he knew it was nothing of the sort.

"Alright, you stay," he said, deciding for her, and opened his own door. "I'll be back in like five minutes."

She looked over at him and nodded, her green eyes wide with nervous energy.

He bit his tongue from saying anything smug, jokingly of course, but he wasn't sure if she was really into his smart-ass sense of humor. He hopped out of the truck and made his way to the front door. It squeaked when he opened it, but he knew no one was home. Even so, he closed it gently, removed his shoes and silently tread through the foyer, down the hallway and into the kitchen, where a door lead to the basement.

Ever since he was little, Jack had a natural sense of grace and lightness in his steps. He could be loud and draw attention to himself, as he often did, but he also knew how to be quiet. It was like second nature to him. He couldn't count how many times he'd unintentionally snuck up on people, because they hadn't heard him approach.

He grabbed what he came for from the basement, placed the items in a gym bag, zipped it up and slung it over his shoulder. He hesitated at the stairs, then grabbed two industrial brooms from the utility closet and headed back upstairs. When he got back to the truck, he could see Rapunzel through the window cupping her hands over her mouth and nose, blowing hot air into them.

He walked around to her side and opened the door. "Coming?"

"Now?"

He smiled.

She narrowed her eyes slightly and stared at him scrutinizingly, before finally pulling the blanket off her legs and hopping out of the truck, backpack slung over one shoulder.

"You can leave your bag," he said and held out a broom for her to carry.

She hesitated a moment, before complying. "Why do I need a broom?"

"Part of the surprise."

"What's in your bag?"

"Stuff."

"It's not drugs, is it?"

He pressed his lips together, fighting laughter. From her tone and expression, it was a serious question.

"No, it's…" He shook his head and had to look away for a moment. "It's not drugs."

"Is it anything else illegal?"

He stared at her in silence. " _No_."

"Okay," she said and actually smiled.

He raised his eyebrows and felt his mouth fall open slightly. That was fast. For a moment he thought this was going to take some convincing.

"Okay," he repeated, turned around and started walking around the house to the backyard where the woods started.

"You're taking me into the woods?"

"I'm not going to murder you if that's your concern," he said over his shoulder.

"It wasn't," she said flatly.

"Right."

"You need help burying someone else you murdered."

She said it in such a 'matter of fact' way that it caught him completely off guard and caused him to stop in his tracks. She walked past him, grinning, and the corner of his mouth twitched. He picked up his pace to catch up to her.

"No, actually Hiccup helped me with that last week."

"Who's Hiccup?"

"My partner in crime."

She giggled softly. "So, does this now make me an accomplice?"

"Guess it does."

She hummed in amusement. "I still can't believe I'm here… _with you_."

 _Me neither_ , he thought, but instead he said, "I guess, today's your lucky day then."

"Yeah," she said, a sarcastic note in her voice. "Breaking my bike, injuring myself—but at least I didn't run over the bunny."

By then they'd already entered the trees and she was walking behind him on a path only he could see. He stopped abruptly at her comment and he felt her hand on his back to prevent herself from running into him. He turned around. Her breath came out in a frosty puff.

"You crashed, because of a _bunny_?"

Her mouth fell open. "Y-yes. Well, I couldn't run it over!"

Her lip jutted out in a pout as he fought his own grin and he slowly shook his head and turned back around.

"Don't act like _you_ would have actually run it over."

He laughed. "No, you're right. I would have crashed my truck into a tree to save a little bunny."

He could feel her glaring at the back of his head.

"How much further?" She asked.

"Almost there."

"Where is _there_?"

"You'll see in a minute."

He heard her exhale deeply and he laughed. "You're more impatient than my sister."

"You have a sister?"

"You didn't think the snowman-princess out front was my doing, did you?" He asked and glanced over his shoulder.

"Well, no, but…you said you babysit, so I thought it could have been one of them," she reasoned. "What's her name?"

"Flee."

"That's cute," she cooed. "How old is she?"

"She's nine."

"Does she look like you?"

"Not at all," Jack replied and chuckled at how true that statement was. Flee looked like their mom; brown hair, brown eyes, she even had the same mole on her right cheek.

"Must be nice having a sibling."

She sounded almost sad, but when he looked over his shoulder at her, she smiled brightly.

"Yeah," he agreed thoughtfully. "So, you're an only child?"

"Yup. Just me and Mother."

 _Mother?_ Who said 'mother' anymore? He brushed it off. He supposed it was just one of those things, like kids calling their grandma 'babooshka' or something ridiculous like that.

"It's just around here," he said.

The ground rose to their right and Jack took them left. They tread a few more minutes around the rising ledge and finally came to the clearing.

"Wow," Rapunzel breathed out from next to him. "Is this it?"

He nodded and looked out over the pond. Snow was dusted over the ice just as her expected. He looked over at Rapunzel and smiled at her wondered expression. Her eyes darted everywhere, taking in the area, sheltered by large trees and the rock ledge. Snow crunched underfoot as she made her way down to the ice. He noticed there was a light caution in her steps, but otherwise she looked comfortable walking over the uneven ground and through the underbrush.

"So, what's in the bag?" She asked as soon as he caught up to her at the edge of the pond.

He dropped the bag onto a boulder and unzipped it. She took a step closer, looked inside, then up at him.

"Ice skates?"

He smiled. "Yeah."

"But…I-I can't skate."

He shrugged. "So, I'll teach you. Taught my sister how."

She chewed on her lip for a moment. "Is it safe?"

"Ice skating?"

" _The ice_ ," she corrected in near exasperation.

Jack looked out over the pond and nodded.

"You sure?"

Now it was his turn to express exasperation. "I've been skating on here since I was a kid."

She pressed her lips together and glanced at her feet, eyebrows pulling together.

"You said you wanted to do something different," Jack argued and stepped out onto the ice. Before he could even register what he was doing, he extended his hand towards her. "Come on. I promise you'll be fine."

Her gaze flew to his hand, then back to his face, and in her hesitation he felt a spark of embarrassment that tinged his ears. But then she smiled softly and took his hand.

"Do you keep your promises?" She asked.

He smiled. "Always."

She held his gaze and something flickered in her expression. "Okay."

"Okay," he repeated and tugged her along. The ice was sturdy underfoot and as they walked further towards the center, he felt her grip in his hand relax slightly. "Now we just have to sweep out a nice sized area to skate."

"No Zamboni?"

"It's in the shop," he replied and liked the way the corner of her mouth twitched as she tried suppress her grin.

It took them about fifteen minutes to clear an area with the brooms and by then Jack had actually removed his jacket and just wore his sweatshirt.

"How do you know the skates will even fit me?" Rapunzel asked as she approached him on the shore.

"Wild guess," he replied. "They're my mom's old skates. I thought they might be your size. They don't have to fit perfectly."

She crossed her arms and looked back over the pond. Jack sat down against the rock, pulled off his shoes, tugged on his hockey skates and laced them up quickly. When he looked up again, he was surprised to see her watching him. He raised his eyebrows. She mirrored his expression and it made him laugh.

"Don't tell me, you're chickening out now," he said and stood.

Something like determination crossed her features and a few minutes later they were both standing on the edge of the ice, skates laced up. He held out his hand again and she took it this time without hesitation. He started skating slowly along the pathway they'd cleared to the center, pulling her along gently.

"Don't let me fall," she murmured as she hobbled and swayed unsteadily.

"Yeah, no promises there," he said and laughed at her offended expression. "You're not taking me down with you."

As if on cue her foot slipped out. Her hand tightened around his and her other arm pinwheeled to keep her balance. Jack immediately turned and grabbed her at the waist with his free hand to keep her from falling. Her breath rushed out as she laughed and Jack felt his skin grow warm. He righted them both again and drew his hand back.

"You did that on purpose."

Her mouth fell open. "Did not!"

He looked at her skeptically a moment, before tugging her along again. They made it to the center without further incident. And then he started showing her how to skate and she fell more times than he could count. And Jack fell more times than he cared to admit…

Five times.

He fell five times and every single incident had been completely her fault. The first three times she'd pulled him with her—intentionally or not he wasn't exactly sure—, the fourth time she hadn't been able to break and all but crashed into him, and the fifth time she'd kicked his feet out from underneath him out of revenge, because he'd been laughing so much.

That's why he was lying on the ice now.

"That was uncalled for," he groaned and pushed himself up onto his elbows.

"You deserved it," she replied smugly and pulled herself up to a sitting position.

"You have snow in your hair."

She pulled her knit hat off and threw it at him.

He caught it easily and laughed. "So, was that fun?"

She'd pulled off her gloves and was patting down her hair and plucking snow chunks from her braid. Her eyes flashed over to him and he was struck not for the first time with how green they were. He could tell that she was fighting a smile. She looked back down at her braid.

"Yeah, it was fun," she said nonchalantly.

He looked up towards the sky and smirked. The clouds had started to clear and the sun was starting to shine through. By his guess, it wasn't quite noon. He wasn't hungry enough yet.

He pulled himself to his feet, brushed off his pants, glided over to Rapunzel and held out a hand. She looked up at him and he could see the slight caution in her eyes that he knew was mirrored in his own. She slowly took his hand and very slowly their grips tightened. Her fingers were warm in contrast to his. He waited a second for her to try and yank him down, and when she didn't he pulled her to her feet.

"So, how was that for something different?"


	4. Jack II

_"You have snow in your hair."_

 _She pulled her knit hat off and threw it at him._

 _He caught it easily and laughed. "So, was that fun?"_

* * *

 **Jack II**

* * *

They were at the mall and it had been entirely his idea.

"… _all I want for Christmas is you_ …" Jack heard Rapunzel sing along through a mouthful of soft pretzel to the music blasting over the audio system.

They were leaning against the railing on the second floor looking down onto the main area where an event was being set up. Seeing the giant, red chair with the tacky, gold arm rests and head piece, along with the reindeer, sled and giant sack filled with boxes decorated as presents, Jack guessed Santa was coming to town—or at least to the mall on Saturday. And he was fairly certain he knew who would be taking on the role.

His phone dinged and he pulled it out of his back pocket. A smile played at his lips.

 _\- you know no one actually believes you're out sick -_

 _godmother does,_ he replied.

\- _she's the only one -_

Then a second later:

 _\- btw I'm not sharing my notes for bio -_

Jack scoffed lightly in protest.

"What's wrong?" Rapunzel asked.

He looked up. "Oh, nothing, just Hiccup giving me a hard time."

Rapunzel tilted her head inquisitively. "How come?"

"Let's just say, he doesn't approve of me skipping class."

"Well, you have to admit, it's not the greatest hobby."

He sent her a look and she stuffed another piece of pretzel into her mouth.

 _that's ok it was probably just a drawing of astrid anyway right,_ Jack texted back smugly _._

The bubble icon with the three dots, indicating Hiccup was typing, appeared, then disappeared, then appeared again.

 _\- shut up -_

Jack snorted.

 _\- what are you doing anyway? -_

He looked over at Rapunzel and paused. She was swaying and nodding her head to the music, mumbling the words as she continued to eat her soft pretzel. She got it _ten minutes_ ago and she was _still_ eating.

 _stuff_ , he replied shortly and pocketed the phone, ignoring the ding that sounded moments later.

"Hey, _Pretzel_ ," he said, getting her attention.

She looked over at him, mid-chew. "Hm?"

"I want to go to this one store. Friend of mine works there."

"A friend?" She repeated and swallowed. "But no one's supposed to know we're here."

He tilted his head. "You know, when I say 'friend', it's implied that he's not gonna rat us out."

She looked away briefly, embarrassed. "Oh, right."

He chuckled softly. "Come on. It's on the top floor."

"Which store?"

"Toy store. It's called 'The North Pole'."

"That's cute."

"Yeah, adorable."

He laughed when she nudged him with her elbow.

They rode the escalator up another floor and took a left past some clothing boutiques and an electronics shop and there in the corner was the toy shop. The entrance was a wide curved archway and a rustic sign labeled 'North Pole' hung from it. A giant teddy bear, dressed in a Santa hat and a thick, gold-buckled, black belt, was positioned just left of the entrance.

Rapunzel paused in the entryway and stared up at the giant teddy bear with a childlike amazement. It was a foot taller than her and Jack guessed about ten of her could fit in there.

"It's the body guard," he said and walked into the shop.

It smelled like Christmas; cinnamon, pine and peppermint, along with the dry scent of wrapping paper and the fabricated odor of new toys.

Jack lead Rapunzel through an isle of stuffed animals to the cash register where a cashier was hunched on his stool, pouring over a magazine. He looked up as Jack approached and seemed to be in his early twenties. He was gangly and looked absolutely miserable in the red and green elf costume. He gave Jack a once-over and glanced over at Rapunzel, where his eyes rested just a bit to long.

"Shouldn't you kids be in school?" He drawled.

Jack felt Rapunzel stiffen beside him. "We're looking for North. Is he in?"

The guy gave him a disinterested look. "Who's asking?"

"I am," Jack deadpanned.

The guy blinked slowly.

"We're friends of his," Rapunzel piped up and smiled brightly.

The cashier looked like he was seeing the sun for the first time. His face brightened and reddened at the same, he sat up a bit straighter and actually managed a smile. "I'll see if he's in his office. What's your name?"

"Tell him, Jack's here," Jack cut in, amused and irked by the guy's sudden change in demeanor.

The elf gave him what Jack interpreted as an irritated look, hopped of his stool and headed to the backroom. Rapunzel leaned forward and rested her elbow on the counter, cheek in the palm of her hand. She was fighting a smile.

"What?" Jack asked her.

She shook her head. "Nothing." She glanced at him and when their eyes met her smile broke through along with a laugh. " _Who's asking? I am_ ," she mimicked in a deep voice and started laughing again.

Jack looked away, shaking his head and fighting his own smile. "I don't sound like that."

She giggled again and from one of the clear containers on the counter she plucked a red pencil with an enormous reindeer eraser on it. "Do people seriously buy this stuff?" She asked and twiddled it in her fingers. "How would you even write with this? It's really heav—"

There was a crash as she accidentally flung it behind the counter, knocking a cup of pens onto the floor. She winced and covered her mouth. After a drawn out moment of silence, she looked up at him, eyes wide. "That was an accident."

"Jack!" A booming voice echoed around the shop.

He turned and grinned. "Hey, North."

A man of commendable size and height stood before him, donning a red shirt and black trousers with suspenders. His bright blue eyes twinkled joyfully under his thick, black eyebrows and his white beard and mustache were unruly as ever.

"Being naughty, are ve?" He accused in his distinct Russian accent and crossed his arms over his chest. "Playing hooky."

"Don't worry, North. It was well reasoned," Jack said, an easy smile on his lips.

North's gaze drifted over his shoulder, where Rapunzel stood, and he arched an eyebrow. "I'm sure," he grumbled, rather unimpressed.

"This is Rapunzel. Rapunzel, North," Jack said, gesturing casually with his hands.

"Nice to meet you," Rapunzel said in a small voice and held out a hand.

"And you, _Rapunzel,_ " North said in a gentler tone as he shook her hand, engulfing it in his grasp. "Vat a lovely name. German, is it not?"

Rapunzel nodded meekly.

North nodded. "Good, strong name."

Rapunzel's eyebrows lifted in surprise.

"Jack isn't getting you into trouble, is he?" North asked, causing Jack to cross his arms and roll his eyes.

Rapunzel glanced over towards him and shook her head. "No. Well, not yet."

North straightened up and laughed deeply. Rapunzel visibly winced, but smiled nevertheless.

"Alrighty zen. Introductions out of ze vay. Vat can I do for you, Jack?" North asked and turned to face him again.

"Can't an old friend just stop by to say 'hello'?" Jack asked, feinting innocence.

"Yes, an old friend could, but…" He gestured with his hand towards Jack, clearly stating that Jack was not to be put into that category.

"Alright, fine, I was wondering if those little robot things came in yet."

" _Little robot tings_ ,"North repeated flatly and placed his hands on his hips.

"Don't get offended. You know, what I mean," Jack protested. "Jaimie was talking about a new collection coming out and I thought about buying him one for Christmas."

North nodded slowly as he scratched his beard. "Not on sale yet. In ze back," he said and nodded with his head for them to follow him.

Jack glanced over at Rapunzel. She still seemed to be in shock.

"You alright?"

"Is he even human?" She whispered.

"Half-yeti," he whispered back and pushed her forward to follow the enormous man.

They walked to the back of the shop past all the board games and building blocks, through a set of shiny double doors into the backroom; the workshop. Rapunzel looked over at Jack wide-eyed and open-mouthed. He couldn't resist the urge to hook a finger under her chin and snap her jaw shut. He grinned cheekily and brushed past her further into the workshop.

North was speaking with one of his workers, whom Jack knew to be in charge when North wasn't around. They were much alike in physique and appearance; buff and sturdy with wild beards.

"Oh, hey, Phil," he greeted, smirking when the man narrowed his eyes at him suspiciously.

North signed on the clipboard, then turned towards Jack and beckoned him with a wave of his hand.

Workbenches were piled with toys and trays of instruments for repairs and inspections. They walked down the row of tables, glancing left and right; a princess castle, teddy bears, fire trucks, space ships, electronic guitars, remote controlled helicopters.

Jack turned to Rapunzel, but she wasn't at his side. He frowned in confusion and scanned the workshop until he found her, standing at one of the workbenches, where a worker was bent over a chess set, painting little details onto the pieces.

She didn't spare him even a glance when he sidled up next to her, instead keeping her focus on the little wooden figurines. "They're so intricate," she murmured.

To Jack they were just chess pieces painted red and blue so one could distinguish the sides, but he wasn't going to argue if she saw something more. "Coming?" He asked simply.

She nodded and slowly dragged her gaze away from the workbench so she could follow him into North's office.

It was a large room and decorated in a homely kind of manner with dark, wooden furniture, warm light, and puppets and airplanes hanging from the low ceiling on strings. There was a train track under construction on the large table near the window at the back of the room and a decorated Christmas tree stood to their right.

"Fruitcake?" North asked, holding out a platter.

Jack suppressed the urge to grimace as the memory of when he once accepted the offer resurfaced. "Uh, no. Thanks."

"Rapunzel?"

"Hm? O—"

Jack gently pressed his elbow into her arm, discreetly clearing his throat.

She glanced at him for the corner of her eye and looked back to North with a smile. "No, thank you."

"Hm." North shrugged and placed the platter back onto the classical-looking cabinet. "Zen now ve get down to tacks of brass."

He felt Rapunzel lean into him lightly as she whispered, _"Tacks of brass?"_

"Your _little robot tings_ are over here," North said and walked to the other side of the room near his train set.

Jack looked over at Rapunzel, a smile tugging at his mouth, and raised his eyebrows and shrugged in a manner that meant 'I know this guy's a wierdo, but you'll get used to it'. He crossed the room and North placed the toy onto the table, before standing back with his arms crossed and a satisfied expression on his face.

"Not so little," Jack admitted, staring at the toy robot on the table with the retractable wings. It was yellow and shiny and a lot bigger, also probably a lot more expensive, than he thought it was going to be. He looked up at North and smiled easily. "Impressive."

"Not for sale for another two veeks, but I put zis one on ze side and you pick it up zen. Half price."

"Oh, you don't have to—"

"Half price."

Jack met the man's gaze and although he felt guilty that North always gave him discounts on literally everything it sure helped lessen the dent the holidays put in his savings account. "Thanks, North."

The man smiled broadly and plucked the toy robot off the table like it didn't weigh more than a feather and placed it on a shelf for safe keeping.

Jack glanced over his shoulder and spotted Rapunzel standing at one of North's bookcases, peering curiously at a toy farm set complete with a solid-looking, red barn and little, wooden animals. He felt North's presence again and looked back at the man quickly, who was now leaning against the heavy, wooden table, arms crossed once again, and a knowing look crossing his features.

"So, girl is just friend?" he asked in a low voice.

Jack felt his skin turn warm, but he played it off with a nonchalant nod of his head. "Yeah. We have some classes together. She was having some trouble with her bike on the road today, so I stopped and…one thing lead to another."

"Hm." North nodded. "Looks familiar," he went on, scratching at his beard mockingly. "You have type."

Jack rolled his eyes. "Believe me, she's nothing like…They're not the same. I don't have a type."

"Blonde. Pretty. Big eyes. You have type, Jack."

Jack briefly glanced over his shoulder at Rapunzel, then looked back at North and laughed softly in exasperation, shaking his head. "Shut up."

North held up his hands in surrender, but that knowing glimmer in his eyes did not disappear.


	5. Rapunzel III

_Jack briefly glanced over his shoulder at Rapunzel, then looked back at North and laughed softly in exasperation, shaking his head. "Shut up."_

 _North held up his hands in surrender, but that knowing glimmer in his eyes did not disappear._

* * *

 **Rapunzel III**

* * *

"So, how did you meet North?" Rapunzel asked, leaning her cheek into the palm of her hand.

They were sitting in a café, still at the mall, drinking apple cinnamon tea and eating sandwiches—which Jack had paid for again even against her protests. He'd come up with the excuse that he had a mall employee's discount— _liar—,_ but Rapunzel had the impression that he knew she didn't have a lot of money and that he was trying to be courteous. It was sweet, _really_ , and she was grateful, but she could afford a sandwich for crying out loud!

He chuckled and ran a hand through his hair, grinning somewhat sheepishly. "That's kinda a crazy story."

Rapunzel leaned forward, elbows on the table, knuckles pressing against her cheeks, already intrigued.

He lifted his gaze from his mug to her and something flickered in his expression, pulling at the corners of his mouth and sparking something in his eyes.

"Alright, so 7th grade," he began and shifted in his seat, resting his crossed arms on the table. "It was the day of the Christmas Musical audition and since no one ever signed up for it, the school made all the students audition for it, so they'd have at least some kind of school production at the end of the year. No way was I gonna get sucked into any of that so as soon as my mom dropped me off, I walked to the city bus stop and hitched a ride to the mall."

He added that the night before the auditions he'd been on the phone with Hiccup, trying to convince him to ditch with him, but the other boy had been too chicken. He'd regretted it later, especially since he got stuck with one of the main singing roles.

"I hit the arcade with every last cent I owned and just messed around in there for a good two to three hours."

The story took a turn when the mall cop had spotted him arm deep in the reflection pond fishing out quarters. It had been a mildly spectacular chase scene of a skinny kid sprinting up the escalators and dodging shoppers, while the potbellied mall cop wheezed and struggled to keep him in sight.

"I ended up hiding in North's shop. I dug myself into a toy bin, but the security camera picked me up, so Phil and North dug me out about two minutes later, asking what in the hell I was doing—not in those words exactly—and I just begged them to let me hide…and North—I'm never gonna forget the way he just sort of smiled at me and then told me, I'd have to dig deeper 'cause my feet had been sticking out. I probably sat in there for twenty minutes before I decided that I'd rather take my chances running. North stopped me before I left and gave me a candy cane and money for the bus ride home. After that, any time I was at the mall I'd stop by and say 'hello' and I even got a summer job there three summers in a row. And that's it. That's the infamous story. And Phil never forgave me for messing up his pile of teddy bears."

Rapunzel had been watching him intently throughout the tale, picking up each little facial quirk, like the way the corner of his mouth would pull up when he thought something particularly funny or the way he'd fix his gaze on something as if the memory were flashing through his mind like a movie, and his light hand gestures and the quick tilts of his head, and she was completely captivated by him.

What was she doing in seventh grade? Home alone, climbing the walls, contemplating whether or not she could risk going outside for nothing more than just some _fresh air_ and a bit of exercise to stretch her limbs. And then there was Jack, finding a ride into town, spending every last cent on something fun, no thought to the future, just lost in the moment, relying on his own quick wit, finding an unlikely friend, getting a job…

And then something occurred to her. "So you weren't lying about the employee's discount?"

"No. I mean, it's expired, but—"

"But all you have to do is _smile_ and they'll let it slide?" She offered, raising her eyebrows.

"That's an amateur tactic," he countered, a little half smile playing at his lips. "I actually have a plan of conversational distraction."

"Still with a smile though," she pointed out.

"Yeah, okay, but everything works better with a smile."

 _Especially if it looks like yours_ , she thought to herself and took another sip of her tea to refrain from actually saying it.

"You must have a really bad image of me right now," he said and shifted in his seat.

Rapunzel tilted her head and frowned at him. "What do you mean?"

He looked surprised that she didn't know what he talking about. "I literally just told you that I'm scamming restaurants at the mall with my fake employee's discount."

She thought about that for a second, agreeing that maybe that wasn't the most honest thing to do, but he went on before she could say anything else.

"And I'm the reason you're ditching school."

"Don't take all the credit," she protested quickly. "I'm the one that decided to go with you. You didn't make me do anything."

His eyes narrowed briefly and she could tell he didn't quite agree with her, but she didn't know why.

"But if we get caught, I am blaming you for everything," she added, smiling cheekily.

He raised his eyebrows and amusement flooded back into his features. "Yeah, see, I don't think they'd believe your story over mine."

"And what's your story?"

He shrugged. "Pretty girl asked me to skip the day with her. Like I'd say 'no' to that."

Her stomach fluttered at the fact he thought she was pretty, but she tried not to let it faze her. "You think that's more believable than 'infamous troublemaker convinces injured girl to ditch class'?"

"Infamous troublemaker?" he repeated and stared at her, shaking his head.

"The truth always comes out on top," she reasoned and looked at him over the rim of her mug.

He smiled and rested his forearms on the table. "That's optimistic."

"It's the only way to live."

He chuckled softly and took a sip from his own cup.

She thought he might try and contradict her, but instead he changed the subject to what she was planning on doing after graduation and her mood dimmed, but she tried not to let it show.

"No plans for the summer. I'll be here. And in the fall I'm taking nursing classes at the community college."

"Where did you want to go?" He asked after a moment.

"What? Nowhere. I want to stay here. It's my home."

She couldn't go anywhere else. She didn't _want_ to go anywhere else. Mother needed her here.

"You want to be stuck here for the rest of your life?"

"I'm not _stuck_ ," she protested and averted her gaze to the mug cupped in her hands. "And maybe I'll leave at some point, if…" She trailed off and her shoulders sagged.

"If what?" He asked softly, leaning forward.

Rapunzel could feel his stare on her and she slowly shook her head and shrugged. "If I'm brave enough?"

They remained silent for what could only have been a few moments, but to Rapunzel it felt like hours, the silence deafening, her heartbeat painful.

"What are you afraid of?" Jack finally asked.

 _Mother would never forgive me if I left_.

"I don't…I don't know. I'm not afraid of what's out there in the world. I—I want to experience all of it. I guess I'm afraid of losing what I have here. I'll leave and come back and everything will be different."

"You can't stop change," he said slowly.

She smiled. "I know and I don't want to, but home is home. It's safe. It's all I've ever known."

He nodded, an understanding smile at his lips. "But if you were brave enough…where would you go?"

She didn't have to ponder the question, because she already knew the answer, but she didn't reply right away.

"Africa."

She could tell he was surprised, probably thought she was insane, but he was trying not to show it.

"I've just always wanted to help people. I think joining an organization in a place that really needs the support could actually do some real good. I could make a real difference. I want…" She chewed on her lip for a second. "I want to stop hiding and start living. I want to start doing everything that I've always wanted to do. _Anything_ , but what I've been doing for the past eighteen years. And going to a completely different continent, I feel like I could finally change. I wouldn't have to be scared. I wouldn't have to dream about being free, I could just _be_ ," she rambled on and finally forced herself to look up at him. She could very nearly see storm clouds of thoughts swirling in his eyes and the intensity of it made her flush. "Crazy dream, right?"

His expression cleared as that damned smile curved his lips again. "Those are the best kind."

Something like relief fluttered in her chest, mixing with the butterflies. "So, what's your dream?"

"My dream?" He repeated and sat back in his seat as he looked away thoughtfully. "I'm going to be a pilot. I've already been accepted into the flight academy program." His pale fingers tapped against the table top and he worked his jaw as something played in his mind. "For as long as I can remember that's all I've ever wanted to do. I just wanted to fly."

"Like a bird," she murmured stupidly and had an odd image of him flying through the air like Peter Pan, gliding on air currents, heading towards the horizon, nothing but freedom and adventure in his bones.

His eyebrows pulled together and he sent her a puzzled look, but then he shrugged easily and nodded. "Yeah. Like a bird. I don't want to be stuck in one place. I want to travel and I know a lot of people say that, but I…I don't want to just _see_ the world, so I can tell people I've seen it. I want to really _experience_ it, you know? I want to be right in the thick of it. There are so many different cultures out there, so many different things to do and people to meet…" He trailed off uncertainly. "It makes me realize how little I actually know."

Rapunzel nodded as words failed her. A part of her felt like crying and she didn't even know why. She'd never spoken with anyone like this before, so open, so honest. She was soft and vulnerable and wore her heart for all to see…and didn't it take strength to do that? So why did she feel so weak? Mother would always criticize and mock, shake her head, roll her eyes. And it made her feel alone.

She _was_ alone. And loneliness always sounded like an easy thing to fix; find a friend, reach out to someone who cared, but not all were willing to stop and listen. Loneliness was a beast, eating you alive, digging its claws into your heart, a constant pain killing you every day just a little bit more, taking what once was an inner light and replacing it with a darkness that lurks in the corner of every moment, craving for you to suffer a life without any warm hands embracing you or any shoulders to cry on.

It was something that Rapunzel had always pushed away, ignored, refused to acknowledge that it even existed in her being. But there was a cost in burying such pain rather than expressing it freely. A black hole was growing inside her, more powerful with every social snub, every nasty rumor, every roll of Mother's eyes, and it threatened to swallow every part of her, good and bad, until all that was left was a human shell too numb to feel anything anymore.

But right now, something was different. She didn't feel alone. There was just something in the way he smiled and laughed and spoke, albeit sometimes teasing, but it was a part of his nature and never cruel. It was a warmth, a genuineness, a kindness in his spirit that made her feel whole. He listened like he was absorbing her words and not just waiting for his turn to speak so he could return to some other topic. The more time she spent with him, which was bordering on five hours now, the more her own spirit lifted.

He said he wanted to experience the world and all she could think was how much she wanted to join him on that adventure.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she said quickly, but her voice cracked and when she blinked she felt tears fall. She wiped at her cheeks quickly and looked away momentarily. "I'm fine. Really." She nervously pulled at her braid and tried a smile. "So, where is the first place you'd travel to?"

His eyes rested on hers, something like confusion and concern swirling in them, and she prayed he'd just let it go, because she didn't know how to tell him and a part of her didn't want him to know at all.

He told her that he wanted to go to Russia and that North had already given him a list of recommendations, including the most beautiful cities and towns and the best places to ski and snowboard. He went on to say that he wanted to discover the entirety of Asia, even thinking about backpacking through it at some point in his life.

She asked him to say something in Russian, which he did, but when she asked what he said, he didn't tell her and just smiled in that way that caused butterflies to take flight.


	6. Rapunzel IV

_The more time she spent with him, which was bordering on five hours now, the more her own spirit lifted._

* * *

 **Rapunzel IV**

* * *

 _"There was once a very happy tree…who died for this card. The end. Merry Christmas, tree killer."_

 _"Have a Christmas."_

 _"To-do list:_ _buy that moron a Christmas card_ _."_

 _"Santa doesn't believe in you either."_

 _"I have something for you. You're holding it_ —These are the worst Christmas cards ever," Jack scoffed and slid the greeting card back into its slot on the stand.

 _"Christmas,"_ Rapunzel read aloud, _"The only time of the year one can sit in front of a dead tree and eat candy out of socks."_

Jack got a far off look in his eyes as he contemplated that message before he finally nodded and shrugged in agreement.

"Have you ever actually bought a greeting card?" he asked and started walking down the isle. "My mom always made us make them ourselves with construction paper when we were younger."

"No, I haven't," Rapunzel admitted and followed him as he turned into another isle of the dollar store.

It was filled with cheap-looking seasonal decor. Of course there were wreaths and garlands for Christmas, but also leftover things from Halloween and autumn, like, cobwebs, plastic jack-o-lanterns, colorful leaves and odd-looking branches.

Jack stopped in front of a stand with little costume accessories, picked up a purple witch's hat, turned to Rapunzel with an impish grin and placed the hat on her head. "Something to match your personality."

Her eyes widened at the jab. She looked over the items, mind racing, and grabbed a plastic mound of fake poo and handed it to him. "Something to match your sense of humor."

His eyes lit up despite the insult and he looked back at the pile of strewn objects, then picked up a clear package of white, plastic vampire fangs. "'Cause your bark is worse than your bite. You gotta amp it up."

Rapunzel grabbed a tiara and, feeling giddy, stood on her toes to place it on Jack's head. "A crown for the drama queen."

"Bunny ears for the bunny lover."

"Ooh, those are cute!" Rapunzel exclaimed, becoming distracted from the game of insults, and pulled off the witches hat to put the fluffy, white bunny ears on her head.

She looked up at Jack expectantly, but he wrinkled his nose and shook his head. "No, let's switch."

"Fine," she grumbled and plucked the ears off.

He placed the tiara on her head, smiling oddly, but it morphed into a smile of discomfort when she held out the bunny ears for him, which he put on reluctantly. Rapunzel tried to keep from laughing, but she couldn't.

"So, do I look like a princess?" she asked mockingly, after having adjusted her tiara.

"Just like your namesake," Jack said with a grin and pinched her nose playfully with his cold fingers.

Rapunzel swatted his hand away, blushing and grinning all the same.

They continued their journey through the store, still wearing their headwear, and passed through isles of stationary and party supplies. They stopped when they found a rack of hula hoops and challenged each other to see who could go on the longest, including extra challenges like standing on one leg and then switching between legs, when neither lost. Jack came up with the brilliant idea to have a sword fight with pool noodles and it didn't take long after that for the store manager to kick them out. They tossed the tiara and bunny ears into a bin of packaged Christmas ornaments on their way out.

Rapunzel couldn't deny that she'd been slightly terrified when the manager had called them out on the ruckus they'd been causing, but Jack had smiled easily and taken her hand as he lead them out. They'd both burst out laughing when they got far enough away from the store.

"You looked like you were about to faint when he came up to us."

"I thought I might," she admitted and covered her face as she laughed in amusement and slight embarrassment at herself.

"But it wasn't too bad was it?"

She dropped her hands and looked up at him, at that impish smirk and those mischievous eyes. His hair was even more messed up from wearing the bunny ears and she found that the chaotic swirls suited him immensely.

"No, it wasn't." She looked away, shaking her head. "Who knew causing trouble could be so much fun?"

"I did."

They went into the pet store next, cooed at the little rodents and laughed at their antics, and when they were certain the store employees were nowhere near, they tried—well, _Jack_ tried—to teach the parrots new, more colorful vocabulary, while Rapunzel just shook her head at him, trying and failing to hide her amusement. He gave up when after nearly ten minutes the parrot still continued to greet him with 'hello' and call him a 'snowflake'.

They passed by the reptiles on the back wall and Rapunzel told Jack about Pascale and how he acted more like a kitten than a chameleon. When she told him that Pascale changed colors when she fed him fruits, Jack laughed and said he'd like to to see that sometime. It was in no means a self-invitation, but Rapunzel still found herself laughing it off nervously, imagining having Jack alone in her room. She'd never had friends over before and Mother would positively have a heart attack if she brought a _boy_ home with her.

Jack said that he didn't have any pets, but Jaime and Sophie, the kids he babysat, had a greyhound named Abby. The three of them often took the dog out on walks and Jack was positive Abby would rip his arm off at some point or another.

"Rabbits are her favorite," he added and Rapunzel just huffed at him.

He dared her to do cartwheels around the giant Christmas tree at the main entrance and she said she'd only do it if he fished pennies out of the reflecting pond and put them on the coin slots of the mechanical horses for children.

"I never should have told you that story. But fine. I did it once, I can do it again," he said with all the confidence in the world, but then they came upon the fountain and he realized how deep it was and how stupid it would look if a seventeen year old stuck his hand in there, as if he didn't have a few pennies on him.

She tilted her head and smiled innocently. "Well?"

He exhaled deeply and ran a hand through his hair as he wondered how he was going to go about it. Eventually he just pulled out his wallet and went into the nearest store to exchange some coins for pennies. While they were distributing the coins, an elderly woman came up to them to tell them how thoughtful she thought it was and 'what a wonderful example they were setting for other teenagers and children'. She probably would have sung a different tune if she had stayed another five minutes to watch Rapunzel do her acrobatics down the main part of the mall.

"Stop filming!" Rapunzel exclaimed when she saw Jack with his phone out, camera trained on her. "Jack!" She protested, laughing and smiling despite herself.

"Alright, alright," he complied, grinning, and lowered the phone. "You could compete in the olympics with that form."

She nudged him. "Shut up."

"I'm serious, it wasn't half bad."

They went into an electronics store and took some stupid selfies with the phones on display, sprayed themselves with nice-smelling sample perfume in a cosmetics shop, and eventually found themselves in a bookstore.

Rapunzel plucked a novel from the bestsellers rack, opened it, brought it to her nose and sighed contently. "It has that new book smell."

Jack leaned down and sniffed it. "I'm more into a new car smell."

"I've never smelled a new car," she realized and set the book back, before nearly skipping away down another isle. "Do you have a favorite book?"

"I don't really read to be honest. I can't focus on it long enough," Jack admitted and seemed a bit embarrassed by it. "Same thing with movies."

"Hm," Rapunzel hummed thoughtfully. She didn't have that problem. She could sit for hours reading a book or working on a painting, but sometimes she did just need to move around. She did acrobatics or danced around in her room or in the living room, climbed the larger trees in the woods surrounding her home, or just ran until her lungs felt like they might burst.

"So, what _do_ you do when you're not causing trouble?"

"Detention mostly."

She gave him a look and he sent her an innocent smile.

"Fine, but if by some miracle you didn't have detention after school, what would you do?"

He pulled a book from the shelves near her head and flipped through it, eyes skimming the pages quickly. "Well, Hiccup usually has some invention in his garage that needs testing, so that's something, but I guess, you would still call that 'causing trouble'." His eyes flashed up to meet hers and he smiled teasingly. He closed the book and kept his eyes on hers as he leaned forward and slid the book back onto the shelf. "Trouble follows me everywhere. There is no escape."

He was so close that she could count the dainty, pale freckles on his nose, which she hadn't noticed before this moment. She could spot every shade of blue in his eyes and there was something else there, something more than just plain mischief, and it caused her pulse to quicken.

But the moment was broken when he stepped back. He looked down the isle and scratched the back of his head for a second, before saying that he was gong to use the restroom in the bookshop's café. Rapunzel told him, she'd be in the novels' section, and as soon as he was gone she shook her head as if that would dispel all the thoughts she shouldn't be thinking from her mind.

She walked slowly through the rows of books, letting her fingers drift over the spines. The shelves were too tall to look over and it made her feel like she was in a maze or a jungle. It felt a bit like another adventure, one consisting of walls of literature. She'd stop occasionally and pull a book down, gaze at the cover, read the first page of the first chapter, then the last page of the last chapter, before placing it back on the shelf, from which she took it.

There was soft instrumental music coming from the speaker system in the shop and Rapunzel couldn't stop herself from doing a little twirl in the isle. She was smiling to herself, thinking about the day's events so far. Never in a million years would she have thought something like this would happen. She'd woken up, dreading the day to come, and now here she was having the most fun she'd had in _ages_ , causing all kinds of harmless trouble with a boy who had been a stranger that very morning.

Mother had always warned her as a child to not speak with strangers, _ever_. Men especially. She'd told her that they only had one thing on their mind and that she could never let herself become a victim to it. She'd told Rapunzel about how cruel the world was, how everyone looked out for themselves, and that even though humans had evolved in some ways, it was still survival of the fittest.

It used to terrify Rapunzel, but it didn't anymore. She had come to understand that her mother's view on men and the world in general had more do with one man. The one that had left them. And now her mother projected that image onto every man in existence. In a world so big, of course there was going to be some bad mixed in with the good, but that didn't mean it outweighed the other. Good was everywhere. Sometimes you just had look for it.

She was humming to the tune on the speaker system, swaying lightly in her steps, when a hand took hold of her arm and pulled her into an isle. She was pressed back against a bookshelf and she very nearly shrieked, but quicker than a flash a cold hand clasped over her mouth to muffle the sound. Her eyes flashed up and met bright blue. Her breath rushed out through her nose in relief upon realizing it was Jack and not some thug trying to take advantage, although the position Jack had her in was momentarily not doing him any favors in that regard. She felt her entire body heat up at their close proximity and her eyes, which had been wide with alarm, now narrowed in confusion and suspicion. She pried his hand away from her mouth.

"What are you—"

"Shh."

"Wha—"

"Shh."

"Stop shushing me. What's going on?" She hissed out quietly.

"I saw my mom."

Her eyes widened again. "Seriously?"

"No, I just felt like pressing you up against the bookshelf. Yes. Seriously." He pulled away from her and peered around the bookcase. "We gotta go. Now."

"Where is she?" Rapunzel whispered.

"I saw her by the cook books."

"So, what now?"

"Just meet me outside the store. I'll try and sneak around."

"And if you get caught?"

"Then we're busted."

"I can't get busted," Rapunzel said seriously, eyes wide. "Mother will ground me _forever_."

He looked over at her doubtfully, clearly thinking she was overreacting, but when his gaze met hers his expression cleared. "Don't worry. I won't get caught. I've been doing this for years. See you out front."

And then he ducked around a bookcase and Rapunzel exhaled shakily. She made her way to the front of the store, trying to keep a casual pace, keeping an eye out for a woman that could possibly be Jack's mother, but then she remembered him telling her that his mother and sister looked nothing like him.

She walked out of the store and stood off to the side, wringing her hands nervously as she waited. It could only have been a minute, two tops, but it felt like an hour. He appeared a moment later, hood pulled up.

"Run," he said.

She didn't need telling twice. They ran past boutiques and stands, decorated with twinkly lights and fake wreaths and holly, to the escalator on the far side of the mall, went down to the ground floor, weaving through the shoppers and ignoring their annoyed grumbles about 'rowdy teenagers', ran around the giant Christmas tree and out the main entrance. By then Rapunzel was warm, nearly sweating in her thick layers, and the cold, crisp air was actually welcome for once.

"Did she see you?" She gasped out.

"I don't think so," he replied with a grin.

She breathed out a laugh, catching her breath, and then they started walking to Jack's truck. She asked him what the time was and when he told her, she realized that she should be home, doing her chores and homework in the few hours she had, before having to start on dinner for when her mother came home at six.

"I should be getting back home," she said.

Jack nodded. She thought she saw something like disappointment flicker across his face, but she convinced herself it was just her imagination.


	7. Jack III

_"I should be getting back home," she said._

 _Jack nodded. She thought she saw something like disappointment flicker across his face, but she convinced herself it was just her imagination._

* * *

 **Jack III**

* * *

"Home sweet home," Jack murmured when he pulled up to Rapunzel's house at the end of the winding driveway through the woods.

It was an odd-looking house with a small foundation, but quite tall in height. It seemed to be a mixture of wood, brick and vinyl siding, but it was difficult to tell where one began and ended due to the weathered and discolored surfaces. Dark, frozen vines climbed up one side of the house and the front yard—if you could even call it that—was covered in foliage with a creak off to the right. Jack thought that if a hiker so happened to pass by they wouldn't even see the house, it blended so well into the forest.

"Yeah," came the soft reply from the passenger side. "Home sweet home." Rapunzel didn't make a move to get out.

Jack pulled the keys out of the ignition and the engine whined down into silence. "You okay?"

She looked over at him and smiled quickly, but it didn't meet her eyes. "Yeah. Thanks for today, I had a lot of fun."

"I sense a 'but' in there," he replied, frowning slightly, wondering what had suddenly dimmed her mood.

Her smile faded. "No, I'm just wondering…how did today even _happen_?"

He tilted his head curiously. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, I crashed my bike and for a moment I thought my life was over—" He raised his eyebrows, about to ask if she meant that literally, but she went on hardly taking a breath. "—and I thought I would be late for school and get in trouble and honestly…I was scared." She looked over at him. "But then you showed up and I wasn't anymore…and it turned out to be the _best day ever_ and now I'm scared again that tomorrow everything is going to go back to the same way it's been since forever and I just don't know if I can do that, if I can pretend that I'm okay with…with the way it was."

His mouth suddenly felt dry. "Why does it have to go back to the way it was?"

She looked away. "Mother. She's really protective of me, that's why she doesn't let me stay out after school or go to people's houses she doesn't know or you know, school dances, Friday night football… She made so many rules and I don't even know what they're for anymore. She always tells me to be careful and I am, but she acts like I should be scared of everything too… If she knew what I did today, she'd…" She trailed off and sighed, letting her face fall into her hands.

It wasn't his business and he knew it wasn't his place to make it his business, but something was off. Rapunzel said that her mom was protective, although it sounded more like over-protective, borderline if not completely over-the-line control freak. But if she was so over-protective, then why did she make Rapunzel bike miles to school on icy streets? How did that add up?

He'd known Rapunzel to be a bit of a loner at school and he'd heard the rumors about her and her mom being gypsies and practicing witchcraft in the woods and other nonsensical gossip, but none of those pieces fit the puzzle of Rapunzel he'd created for himself. She was bubbly and fun, artistic and adventurous. She wasn't anything like he'd expected. None of it made any sense at all. Perhaps he just didn't have the whole picture. Or maybe he did, but he just couldn't put the pieces together correctly. Her mom played a vital part, but he couldn't quite place her. Everything seemed to contradict itself.

And then something else clicked. "So, that's why you're always alone at school. Your mom doesn't let you have friends."

"No," Rapunzel said immediately, looking at him almost angrily. He noticed her braid had loosened throughout the day and wispy strands had fallen out. She brushed them behind her ears. "She's not like that. She wouldn't mind me having a friend, she just doesn't let me go out after school, so people don't really _want_ to be friends with me."

Jack wrinkled his brow, wondering why she was suddenly defending her mom. "So if I wanted to be your friend, your mom would let me?"

"No." It was a bitter reply.

He almost laughed in disbelief. "And why not?"

She exhaled heavily and Jack had the feeling she didn't want to say.

"Because you're a boy," she said finally, not looking at him.

"Because I'm—what? Really? She won't let you hang with guys?"

"Nope. _Men are primal beasts of little intelligence and sole animalistic drive_."

Jack bit his lip to keep from grinning. "Was that a quote from her?"

"Her favorite one."

He nodded slowly. Then he laughed. "Sorry."

"It's okay. It's stupid, I know."

" _Primal beasts of little intelligence and animalistic drive_ … _Wow_ , that's one for the history books."

"Yeah, she's…strongly opinionated."

That was one way to put it.

Crazy was another.

"I'm guessing, you've tried talking to her about it," he wondered.

She nodded. "Of course I have, but she doesn't…" She shrugged and leaned her head back against the headrest. "I can always try again, I guess. Maybe she'll change her mind."

She looked a bit dejected sitting there in a slouch, staring out the windshield towards her house, as if she were thinking about every discussion she'd had with her mom, argued and lost.

"Even if she doesn't," he started slowly, "things will be different tomorrow."

Her head tilted to the left, gaze on him, green eyes wide with surprise. "How do you know?"

"Because we'll make it different. No one was ever happy following all the rules."

She slowly shook her head, but her smile gave her away. "You're gonna get in me in so much trouble, aren't you?"

He shrugged, a smile pulling at the corner of his mouth. "Can't get in trouble if you don't get caught."

Her eyes seemed to brighten. "No, I guess not."

They fell into silence, something passing between that he couldn't quite define. Was it understanding? A promise? He didn't know. What he did know was that she was looking at him with those big, green eyes of hers, a hopeful smile at her lips, and with that one look he knew he was a goner. There was no way things would ever be the same again.

"I know one thing that will be different tomorrow," she said, breaking the silence and their held gaze. "No bike." She slouched in her seat again, crossing her arms and blowing out a raspberry. "What am I gonna do with it?"

"Fix it?"

She sent him a look.

He grinned. "Sorry. I can bring it by Hiccup's, he'll take a look."

"Really?" She sat up. "How much would that cost?"

"No charge."

" _Jack_."

"What?" he asked on a light laugh.

"All day you've just been giving me things and you need to stop."

He frowned. "What are you…? _Giving you things?_ What have I been giving you? Look, Hic's got a load of crap in his garage he can use to fix it and he'd be happy to do it, I promise."

" _No_. I'm not a charity case, Jack, so stop treating me like one."

"What? I never—"

"All day you haven't let me pay for anything. The hot chocolate, hot pretzel, lunch, now this and I wasn't going to say anything, but now I just…I can't accept it so…" She reached down and grabbed her backpack off the floor. She opened the little front pocket and pulled out a purple floral wallet.

Something dropped in his stomach. "What are you—You don't have to—"

She yanked out a minimal wad of cash and planted it onto the dash a bit too forcefully. "It won't cover everything, so, really, thank you for the rest. But with the bike, if you're not going to let me pay him or something, then I'll deal with it myself." She forced the door open and hopped out.

" _Rapunzel—_ "

"No, _Frosty_ , just stop!" And she slammed the door.

He sat there frozen a moment, staring at the door, wondering how this had gone south so fast.

" _Frosty?_ " he murmured to himself, amused and miffed she'd picked up Merida's nickname for him.

He caught a glance of her through the back window moving towards the trunk. He cursed softly and jumped out, grimacing as his feet sunk into the sludgy ground that was the driveway.

"Rapunzel, come on, I didn't mean to…" To _what_ exactly? What had he done that had gotten her so upset? _I'm not a charity case_ , she'd said. What was that supposed to mean? Doing someone a favor was considered charity now?

She was standing at the tailgate, fidgeting with the handle. "How do you open this?" she demanded and looked at him, a fiery light in her green eyes.

"You need a key."

"Then open it."

He stepped closer towards her, his hand gliding along the top of the tailgate. "Can you just tell me what I did?"

She took a step back away from him and he tried not to acknowledge the fact that that stung just a little.

"About buying lunch and stuff, I was just being nice. I didn't realize you were a passive aggressive, misandrous feminist," he quipped.

 _Smooth, Jack, real smooth._

"I'm not—" She exhaled sharply and continued on more calmly. "I'm not a _passive aggressive, misandrous feminist_. That's my mother," she said, something resentful in her expression. "I'm just saying that I'm not comfortable taking things from people without giving them something in return. I know I'm not well off, I may not have a phone or be able to afford a car or live in a house that's not in the middle of the freaking woods, but I get by, _I always have_ , and I don't need you swooping in like some Prince Charming, buying things for me and—I don't know, taking care of _this._ " She gestured at the mangled bike. "I can take care of myself."

"Prince Charming," he repeated incredulously. "Well, that's a compliment if I've ever heard one." Seeing as she wasn't amused, he dropped the banter. "Listen, I didn't mean to overstep, but—"

"Well, you did."

He blinked. "Right, um… I was just trying to help you out with your bike, but if you don't want my help that's fine." He unlocked the trunk and let the tailgate down. "I just thought it would be chivalrous."

"It is, but that's not the point."

"Right, so chivalry wasn't dead…until now."

She glared ahead into the trees.

He closed his eyes, mentally smacking himself. Why had he said that? Did he think that would actually rectify the situation?

He looked back at Rapunzel, but her gaze remained locked on the snowy woods, posture straight and rigid, arms crossed, backpack slung over one shoulder. Sunlight streaming through the tree tops made her hair shine golden and the snow sparkle. Her cheeks and nose were pink from the cold, but her skin still had a sun-kissed glow to it, a contrast to the frosty trees and snow-covered undergrowth. However, her expression didn't match the serenity of the world around them.

He ran a hand through his fringe, not trusting himself to say anything that wasn't completely stupid, but knowing saying nothing wouldn't help things either. "I'm sorry."

Eventually something in her features softened and she nodded. "I'm just not used to this, okay?"

He could only guess what she specifically meant by 'this', but he didn't prod. "Okay."

She nodded again and turned back towards the truck, coming to stand next to him by the open tailgate.

"You really want to deal with this yourself?" he asked gently.

She looked over the heap of metal, sighed and shook her head. "But can you at least ask him if I can repay him _somehow_?"

"Somehow? What, you mean with cookies or something?"

"I just so happen to make fantastic cookies," she countered, tilting her chin up rather defiantly. "So, before you go making jokes about it, maybe consider the offer."

Jack couldn't help but smile. He nodded. "Okay, I'll…I'll ask him if he wants cookies." He could barely say it with a straight face.

"Good. Chocolate chip are the best," she went on seriously, "but I can also make ginger snaps or lemon bars. His choice."

"I'll let him know."

"Good," she said with an air of finality and in a tone that clearly said 'no take backs'. "Why are you smiling like that?"

He shook his head. "Nothing. You're just…"

Her eyebrows lifted, adding to her typical innocently curious doe-eyed expression.

He felt his heart start to pound forcefully in his chest.

"Being ridiculous?" she wondered.

He chuckled and closed the tailgate. "Well, that's a given, but not what I was thinking."

She nudged him with her elbow at the light-hearted jab. "Then what were you thinking?"

He turned towards her, leaning lightly into the truck."You're just a lot different than I thought you'd be, is all."

"Oh. Like…" She looked down briefly, a strand of hair falling out from behind her ear. She met his gaze again, uncertainty in her own. "…in a good way or…?"

"Yeah." Before he realized what he was doing, he reached out and brushed the golden strand back behind her ear. "In a really good way."

He felt his ears burn as he slowly dropped his hand, but she smiled, brightening her features like the sun, and as his heart rocked his ribcage all he could think was, _I'm in trouble…big trouble._

* * *

 **A/N:** I'm baaaack and I just want to give a massive apology for leaving this story hanging for the past few months. I just didn't know where to go with it and my inspiration, motivation and any other word ending with 'ation' just kinda flew out the window and only just recently returned. This chapter took me for freaking ever to write, but I hope it somewhat makes up for my absence. Fair warning, I've planned to write 2 more chapters for this fanfiction, but I don't even have an outline for them yet...so yeah, I don't know how long it's gonna take me hahaha *is actually crying*

btw, thank you so much for all the positive reviews (they make me feel that much more guilty)!


	8. Jack IV

_He felt his ears burn as he slowly dropped his hand, but she smiled, brightening her features like the sun, and as his heart rocked his ribcage all he could think was,_ I'm in trouble…big trouble.

* * *

 **Jack IV**

* * *

Trees flashed by in a blur, the engine hummed in the background, his hand shifted gears and maneuvered the steering wheel without thought. And then in moments when his mind floated back into his head, he wondered how he hadn't actually caused an accident.

He couldn't stop smiling.

He really tried to stop, but his face just wasn't having it.

Before he knew it he was pulling into Berk Street. Nearly all the houses had their outdoor Christmas decor set up. It didn't surprise Jack in the slightest when he came to a stop outside Hiccup's house and the yard was bare. Jack hadn't gotten around to hanging the lights up yet.

It had been somewhat of a tradition since they were five years old. One winter's day after kindergarten when Jack had gone over to Hiccup's house, he'd noticed immediately that there hadn't been any Christmas decorations. Offended to no end, he had decided that for their fun they were going to set up Christmas lights. He and Hiccup had rummaged around in the garage and basement for the decor, while Hic's dad, Stoic, had been in the study working. He was the sheriff, so a lack of time for Christmas decorations was understandable. A lack of time for his son less so, but that's just the way it was.

They'd found the lights and like a couple of hooligans had clambered over the roof, stringing them up. It had looked like a mess—they'd completely neglected one area of the house—, but it had been something. Something less sad anyway.

It was kind of funny and incredibly impressive how when they were kids they'd never severely injured themselves. It wasn't until sophomore year when that streak had ended. Bloodily.

Hiccup had fallen off the roof.

Jack had said something. He couldn't for the life of him remember what it had been, but something he'd said had caused Hiccup to lose his balance. He didn't know if it had been a joke that had made Hiccup laugh too hard, or something more profound maybe slightly shocking that had caused him to slip out. Or maybe it hadn't been what he'd said and Hiccup had simply set his foot down wrong.

Either way it had been the worst day of his life.

That terrified scream and sickening crunch still woke him up some nights.

Jack jumped out of the truck and walked up to the house. The light was on in the garage, so he walked to the side door and didn't bother knocking before entering.

Jack froze. He looked over to the old stereo system in the corner next to the worn-out couch and microwave. "Classic, Hic. Now all you need is a plaid skirt."

"Good afternoon to you too." The reply was muffled. Hiccup still had his head in the hood of his car, an obsidian black 1969 Dodge Charger.

He'd gotten the car off the scrap yard for a steal and, Hiccup being Hiccup, had been able to fix it up. But of course, Hiccup being Hiccup, he hadn't stopped there and was constantly tinkering on it, amping this and that, creating the sweetest ride from here to, well, anywhere. That car was his one and only baby.

Except for—

Something big and black and slobbery jumped on Jack.

"Argh! Toothless! Down! Down, Toothless!"

That was another thing Hiccup had dragged out of the junkyard.

The dog's mouth was clamped down on his arm but it didn't hurt because the dog didn't have any teeth, but geez, he was heavy.

"Geroff! Toothless, _down_. _Hic_!"

Hiccup whistled and Toothless dropped down onto all fours, giving Jack those damn puppy-dog eyes. Then he trotted back over to his doggy bed next to the heater.

Jack grimaced at the slobber on the sleeve of his coat. "I thought you trained him to stop doing that."

"I did. Just not for you."

"Oh ha-ha, and what's with this music? Is that a bagpipe?" Jack walked over to the stereo and turned down the dial.

"Dunno. Keltic instrumental? Was in the pile."

Jack looked down at the pile of CD's. It had grown significantly smaller since the last time he'd been there. They'd belonged to Stoic and Hiccup was going through all of them, keeping the ones he liked, tossing the ones he didn't.

"So, where've you been all day?" Hiccup asked and walked over to his workbench. There was a slight limp in his step, something that got more pronounced in the colder weather.

Jack shrugged out of his coat and slouched down into the sagging couch. "Long story."

Hiccup eyed him for a moment. "Well, it sounds riveting."

Jack hummed a nondescript sound.

"Let me guess, you had to wait for your mom to get you more hair dye before you could leave the house."

"Funny," Jack murmured.

"Okay, you watered the sidewalk so some poor bastard could break his neck."

"For the love of—that was _one time, eight years ago._ And he didn't break his neck, he fell on his box of donuts."

"Actually it was a birthday cake."

" _Whatever_."

"Broke his daughter's heart."

"Yes, it was very sad when he went to the store and bought her another cake."

Hiccup shrugged and fidgeted with some of his tools. "It seems unlikely, but I have to ask. Were you sleeping all day?"

"Dude."

"It's been known to happen."

"No."

"You broke the Slushie machine at—"

" _No_."

Hiccup got to his feet and shuffled back over to the engine. "Just saying that's also been known to happen."

"No, it hasn't. That was you."

Hiccup paused. "Oh, yeah."

" _Oh, yeah_."

"So, where've you been then?"

Jack drummed his fingers against the sofa arm for a moment. The leather was cracked and the stuffing was poking through.

"I met a girl," he said.

Tools clattered. Hiccup straightened up and looked over at Jack. "A girl?" He said 'girl' as if he meant 'alien'. Then his expression cleared and he looked mildly amused. "I don't even know why I'm surprised. How d'you meet her?"

And Jack told him. A very brief, shortened version, but it still had Hiccup rolling his eyes.

"I told her you'd fix her bike," Jack said.

"Of course you did," Hiccup muttered. "I swear this would only ever happen to you."

"Yeah, maybe."

"You took her _ice skating_? On the secret lake. Behind your house."

It hadn't seemed like such a big deal at the time, but looking back on it now, it _was_ a bit excessive. In his defense, Jack hadn't known at the time that he'd been trying to impress her. Maybe that was a lie.

"You do know there's no Casanova of Burgess award," Hiccup deadpanned.

"There's not?"

"Who d'you say it was again? Rapunzel? That quiet girl that everyone—"

"Yeah."

Something in Hiccup's expression twitched at Jack's abrupt interruption. "So, the bike. It's in your trunk? How messed up is it?"

Jack pondered the question a moment and sat forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "Worse than your coffee table, you know, when we accidentally—"

"Flung my dad's antique viking axe into it?"

" _Dropped_ ," Jack protested quietly.

"Uh-huh."

"Not as bad as my tree house when we set off firecrackers."

"If it was as bad as the treehouse there'd be nothing left."

"That's why I said it wasn't as bad."

"That's not saying much."

There was a beat of silence.

"So, is that a yes? I know how you like a challenge," Jack prodded.

"Yeah, I'll fix it. I still don't get why I'm fixing it. Not that I mind. I don't mind, but… Are you and her a thing now or is this going to be a regular occurrence, you spending the day with strangers and offering them favors that I have to fulfill?"

Jack stood. "No," he said and headed outside again.

"No. _No?_ That's great. Really reassuring, Jack, especially since _you didn't specify which question you were answering_ ," Hiccup called after him.

Jack dragged the bike into the garage and placed it on the metal bike stand Hiccup had set up in the meantime. Toothless got up from his doggy bed and came to sniff around the wreck.

Hiccup pushed Toothless's big head out of the way and whistled. "How did _she_ look after this?"

"Alive."

"Well, the chain has to be replaced. I can straighten out the handlebars and carrier, no problem, and the seat." Hiccup crouched down and started muttering to himself as he often did when faced with a repair job. Toothless lied down next to him. "Oh, and her tail light is missing. I got a few extras of those."

"How long do you think it will take?" Jack asked. His mind jumped back to the memory of dropping Rapunzel off. Her house was far off the main road, not to mention miles away from school. When he'd asked her why she had been biking in this weather, she'd answered 'bike or walk'. Well, she currently didn't have a bike, did that mean she was going to walk?

"A few days," Hiccup said and got to his feet slowly. He had to press his hands into his good knee as a counter weight to the momentum it took to stand. "I'll have to go by Gobber's tomorrow and pick up a chain. Why do you look so worried?"

Jack shook his head. "I'm not."

"What do you think, Toothless? Does he look worried?"

Toothless yawned, emanating a high pitched squeak, then rolled onto his back.

"See? He agrees with me," Hiccup said.

"No, he doesn't, he wants a belly rub."

"He always wants belly rubs," Hiccup said and bent down to give Toothless a belly rub. He looked back up at Jack. "So, what's wrong?"

"Christmas lights," Jack said suddenly and looked around the garage as if he'd find them there. He knew they were in the basement. That's where he had put them at the end of the previous Christmas season. "I didn't put the Christmas lights up yet."

By the look on Hiccup's face, Jack knew Hiccup had a sarcastic comment at the tip of his tongue, but he was interrupted by the door to the outside opening, revealing a cursing bush of red hair.

"—freezing out—Oh, good o' ya to grace us with your presence today, Frosty," Merida said. She held a cardboard box in her hands and had to kick the door closed. The box had the _DunBroch's_ logo on it, her family's company. It was a pastry company, very popular in the Midwest, hence why Merida's family was loaded. "I brought some rations. Thought you could use 'em."

Hiccup hobbled over to her, his limp suddenly very pronounced, probably from crouching on the floor next to Toothless. "You didn't have t—"

"Shut it," she said and set the box on the couch, opening it. She looked him up and down. "How's the leg?"

"Still missing."

She threw a packaged cinnamon bun at him. Hiccup tried to swipe it away with a hyperbolic whoosh of his arms, but the pastry still managed to hit him in the forehead.

"I wasn't ready for that one," Hiccup protested.

"Reflexes aren't about being _ready_ , Hic," Merida said and tossed a package to Jack, who caught it with ease. "It's an instant reaction to something unexpected, but if you insist, are you ready now?"

"Yeah, I'm ready."

Both Merida and Jack lobbed their cinnamon buns at him.

They heated up some pastries in the microwave and Jack and Merida settled themselves onto the sofa, while Hiccup went back to Rapunzel's bike. Toothless sat with his head in Merida's lap, giving her those damn puppy eyes, begging for a treat.

"I'm tellin' you, you missed somethin' today in history, Frosty," Merida said through a mouthful. "Mr. Thatch would not and I mean _would not_ shut up about Atlantis. You know he's got a major in archeology and linguistics? What in the world is that crazy old bat doing teaching history at Burgess High, I mean, what a waste, don't you think? He should at least be teaching at the community college. Anyway we were supposed to be learning about…I guess, I don't really know, but Fishlegs—somehow and for what reason I don't even know either—got him talking about Atlantis and get this—" Her eyes were wide, her mouth curved in a fairly wry smile. "He says it's real. 'Atlantis exists', those were his words and _he's been there_. He said that."

Jack's eyes flitted over to Hiccup, who was looking at Merida slightly gape-mouthed. "And you believe him?" Jack asked, his tone not even remotely hiding his skepticism.

"Yes, I volunteered for his next expedition—No, of course I don't believe it!" Merida said and let Toothless lick her fingers. Jack grimaced. "He's insane. Most geniuses are. It's a load of horse—"

"Well, I believe him," Hiccup said and spun a wheel on Rapunzel's bike as he walked around it. "Why would he lie? How do we know he's not telling the truth?"

"Because he's insane?" Merida said, brow wrinkling. "Haven't we covered this already?"

"When did he go?"

"He said it was in the 60s, right in the middle of the Cold War, but why would the government fund something like that during the space race with the Soviets?"

"Maybe it was privately funded," Hiccup suggested.

Merida shook her head. "What idiot would fund a wild goose chase like that?"

"A fanatic," Hiccup said.

Jack hid a smile. He could see the wheels turning inside Hiccup's head. No doubt he'd fall into the vortex of internet searches about Atlantis tonight and ask Mr. Thatch all about it the next day. Hiccup had never even met Mr. Thatch.

"Well, then that's good enough reason to stay away," Merida muttered, then she abruptly turned her attention to Jack. "And where've you been?"

"Long story," he said and took a big bite of his cinnamon bun, so he wouldn't have to speak, but it immediately backfired.

"You got a hot date or something?"

It was only a slight hesitation on Jack's part—the mere word 'date' had stimulated something in his brain—and Merida caught it.

"Oh, you _do_ ," she said.

" _No_." His words were muffled by the sticky dough on his tongue.

"Hiccup?" Merida said and looked at him expectantly.

Hiccup's eyes darted between the two on the couch. Jack could see it in his eyes; the struggle between loyalty to Jack and the fear of Merida.

"Er..ugh..wh-what..are you talking about?"

"You know what I'm talking about. _He_ told you," she said and jabbed Jack's side with her elbow.

"Nonono." Hiccup shook his head. "No, he most certainly did not."

"You're a terrible liar," she said, wrinkling her nose.

"That may well be," Hiccup began and gave Jack a panicked look, "but…I'm not…lying obviously. Why would I—we—"

"Hiccup," Jack muttered and finally swallowed.

"What?"

"Shut up."

"Gladly."

"So?" Merida tilted her head at Jack and smiled. "Who is she?"

—

 **A/N:** Finally back from my hiatus. I can't believe it's been a year sine my last update. I hope you all liked these new character dynamics!


	9. Rapunzel V

_"So?" Merida tilted her head at Jack and smiled. "Who is she?"_

* * *

 **Rapunzel V**

* * *

She was an idiot. A complete idiot. Why had she let him take the bike? What was she going to tell mother?

 _Someone from school offered to fix it._

 _Oh?_ mother would ask in that tone of hers that was supposed to imply curiosity, but was actually just a coverup for aggravation and suspicion. _Who?_

No, Rapunzel couldn't say that. That would just lead to more questions of _how_ she knew this person and _why_ they offered to help. No, no, no. Bad idea.

 _I left it on the side of the road because I couldn't carry it and I walked the rest of the way to school. When I went back for it, it was gone. Yes, strange! Why would someone steal a busted bike?_

And mother would go on about the cruel world and the vermin infesting it, cheating the rules of human decency.

But how would Rapunzel explain getting the bike back once Jack returned it to her?

 _Magic. I swear, mother, it just appeared out of thin air._

With a great huff Rapunzel flopped onto her bed. She stared up at the skylight, the ice lining the window, the darkening sky.

"What am I gonna do, Pascale?"

A moment later she heard a guttural chirp.

Rapunzel knew he couldn't understand her and the noises he made were probably just mindless intonations, but she still liked to pretend that he was at least trying to communicate.

"No, I can't tell her the truth. She'd ground me for forever."

There was a rustling coming from his cage.

"Oh, no, she definitely would. She'd probably even drag me to school and make me show him to her and then she definitely wouldn't let me out of the house ever again. You know mother, Pascale, she'd write him off as trouble by just looking at him."

Rapunzel tried to suppress a smile when she thought about Jack, but the second his lazy grin entered her mind she couldn't help herself. She covered her face and giggled.

Why was she acting like this? He was just a person and she knew him for the span of only a few hours.

"To be fair, he is a bit of a troublemaker…"

Pascale squeaked.

Rapunzel sat up and looked at him. "I know, I know, but he's… He's not the _bad_ kind of troublemaker, he's really nice and I think he likes me—not _like like_ me, but as a friend. He did say he wanted to keep talking after today. You'd like him."

Pascale was sitting under the heat lamp staring at her through the glass with the most unimpressed expression on his face that for a moment Rapunzel thought he really did understand everything she was saying.

"He's not like that."

 _How would you know?_

"Because I hung out with him all day and he's just not."

 _Wow, all day. You must really know him then._

"Oh, shut up, what do you know." She flopped onto her back again. "He has the most amazing eyes. They're so _so_ blue and and his smile is just…and he's so charming and free and…" Her eyes fell closed. "I'm an idiot, aren't I?"

 _Chirp_.

"I knew it."

Rapunzel rolled off the bed. Mother would be home soon. Thinking about it turned Rapunzel's stomach. She'd done all her chores and had whipped up a casserole and placed it in the oven, so it would be hot when mother stepped through the door. But the missing bike, what if she noticed it wasn't in its usual spot against the porch?

Rapunzel curled her quaking fingers into fists and squeezed tightly. _Deep breath…and release._

She went to Pascale's cage and extended an arm for him the climb onto, which he did. "What do you think, Pascale?" Rapunzel wondered. "I have to tell mother the truth, don't I? Maybe she'll be understanding this time. Maybe today is the day of all days."

To put her mind off it for the time being, she opened her chest of paints. She pushed her dresser away from the wall and coated the back of it with a white base. She opened the skylight to air the room and, while waiting for the base to dry, she selected the paints and paintbrushes she was sure to use.

Just as Rapunzel was about to make her first stroke with a powdered blue, the front door opened and her mother called to her. She didn't sound angry.

Rapunzel's eyes flew to Pascale. "This is it," she said and smiled. " _This is it_."

She scooped up Pascale and placed him back in his cage, then tidied up her paints quickly, leaving the dresser in its awkward diagonal positioning to the wall.

"Rapunzel!" Mother Gothel called again.

"Coming, mother!" Rapunzel quickly descended the ladder from the tower.

"I have a surprise for you!"

"I do too!"

"Ooh, I bet my surprise is bigger!"

"Doubtful," Rapunzel muttered under her breath and entered the kitchen.

Mother Gothel was at the counter unpacking groceries from two paper bags from that expensive health food store down town.

"I bought parsnips," she said and spun around, her mink coat flourishing like a cape. "I'm going to make hazelnut soup, your favorite."

 _Your favorite_ , Rapunzel thought. "Oh! I—Actually, I kinda already, um…"

Mother Gothel placed a hand on her hip. "Rapunzel, the mumbling."

"I already made a casserole."

Mother Gothel paused. She didn't frown. She never frowned voluntarily (it caused wrinkles). "But I wanted to make soup tonight, Pumpkin. It's far less fattening than a casserole and I'm positive _I told you,_ no more casseroles."

"I can just have the casserole tomorrow then," Rapunzel said and bounced over to mother, giving her a kiss on the cheek and helping her out of her coat.

"You eat the entire casserole? Oh no, you can't eat _all_ of it." Mother Gothel shook her head. "No, dear, I supposed I'll just have to have some tomorrow too. But you know how I hate leftovers and using the… _microwave_."

Rapunzel clutched the dark mink coat to her chest. "Sorry, mother."

"Oh, darling, I'm just teasing. I can use the microwave."

"All right then…so, mother—"

"Look at these little granola bars I bought!" Mother Gothel exclaimed and waved them in Rapunzel's face. "Only 90 calories. You can take one for lunch tomorrow."

"School tomorrow, yes—"

"The roads were terribly icy this morning. How you manage to bike to school and back every single day, without fail, it must be absolutely exhausting, darling." Mother Gothel stared at Rapunzel a moment with a rather pensive expression. "Maybe you shouldn't be going to that school. It is quite far to bike, don't you think?"

And in that moment, Rapunzel decided she would bite her tongue (as per usual). What was walking a few miles if she could avoid the trouble the truth would cause at home? And it's not like she was lying. She was just withholding information that her mother hadn't specifically asked for.

"Oh, it's nothing," Rapunzel said with a shrug.

"That's very odd," Mother Gothel said and held Rapunzel's cheeks between her hands. Rapunzel's heart skipped a beat. "You exercise so much and yet… Well, any baby fat I had melted off my body, like a snowman in spring, when I hit puberty. To be fair I was never chubby. It must be all the casseroles." She pinched Rapunzel's cheek. "Oh, darling, I'm only telling you because I love you."

Mother didn't notice the missing bike. Rapunzel laughed, the knot in her chest loosening, and rubbed her cheek. "I love you more."

Mother Gothel tapped Rapunzel's nose. "I love you most."

Rapunzel hung her mother's coat in the hall closet and wiped the floor down quickly from the snow she had trekked in. Then they unpacked the rest of the groceries and instead of making soup they picked at the casserole Rapunzel had made. Mother Gothel told Rapunzel about her day, emphasizing small details and over exaggerating the rest. Rapunzel smiled and nodded, her mind drifting in and out of her own memories that had happened that very day.

"So, what have you been up to today?" Mother Gothel finally asked her.

"Oh, I don't know, the usual I suppose," Rapunzel murmured, cheek in her hand.

Mother Gothel's fork clattered onto the wooden table. "Rapunzel, the mumbling. You know how I hate the mumbling."

Rapunzel straightend and looked her mother in the eye. "It was just an ordinary day, mother." There was an unintended edge in her voice that didn't go unnoticed.

 _I could still tell her the truth_ , Rapunzel thought. _What's the worst that could happen?_

"Well, maybe you should find something more interesting to amuse yourself with," Mother Gothel snapped.

The possibilities were reason enough to stay silent.

Afterwards Rapunzel cleared the dishes, packed the rest of the casserole into the fridge, and then headed up to the tower, saying she still had homework.

She climbed the steep ladder and shut the trap door behind her. The only light came from Pascale's red heat lamp. Rapunzel's breath came out in soft puffs. The skylight was still open.

The silence of her bedroom echoed in her ears. Despite what her mother had said earlier, Rapunzel felt terribly small. A cold, howling storm of fear shuddered against her. In the darkness the whole world could have blown away, like the universe hadn't even begun or perhaps it had never been. She wished the dawn would come and kiss her cheek and remind her fickle heart that she wasn't the only one here.

Her feet were bare, that was the only reason she knew the ground was still there. She inhaled sharply. She smelled the crisp north wind. And then… _there_. There was something smoldering in her chest, embers not yet extinguished by that storm.

 _Tomorrow will be different because we'll make it different._

Instead of closing the skylight, Rapunzel tugged on another sweater and a scarf. She pulled her desk lamp over to the dresser where she'd been painting earlier, lit a few candles, opened her paints and sat herself down.

Rapunzel had always taken solace in her imagination; a transient castle in the clouds that only she could enter. She daydreamed and painted and wished and… What came of it? The ability to create an entire world of impossibilities, to make herself so happy, only to be snapped out of her own trance by the slightest of movements, it made her want to collapse. And yet she sunk into it every time.

But not this time. This time was different. Today, everything had _changed_. Today hadn't been an imagining or a daydream. It had been real. As real as the cold in her feet, as real as the pigments in her paints, as real as that ordinary boy that had asked her to come along.

Rapunzel didn't expect things to be perfect or easy. All she knew is that they would be different. And for now that was enough.

She dipped her paintbrush into a powdered blue and swept it across her blank canvas.


End file.
